Through additional research into the issue of private road taxes with the NH Private Road Taxpayers Alliance, we have found that part of Town Administrator Conner MacIver’s statement, which he gave on October 11th, 2019, is factually incorrect.
He stated:
“For a piece of property on a Class VI or private road, the land value is reduced by 10%.”
According to the State of New Hampshire, Class VI roads are public roads that are no longer maintained by the Town. We found that properties that are accessed via Class VI roads consistently get a 10% adjustment in the Site Field of Barrington’s property cards, but Private roads do not get the 10% adjustment. There is nothing private about a Class VI road – they are two completely different types of roads, but what they have in common is that neither of them is maintained by the Town.
During our investigation, we asked the Town Administrator why Private Roads and Class VI Roads receive the 10% adjustment, and he responded:
“Every appraisal is an opinion of market value. Achieving fair market value is the only goal of an assessment. Whether that opinion is from a private appraiser as part of a home purchase or the Town’s Assessor. In many cases, the Assessor’s opinion of a property on a road not maintained by the Town is a reduction in market value.”
Mr. MacIver could have corrected his statement of October 11 and set the record straight by admitting that Private Roads do not get the same Site adjustment as their Class VI counterparts, but he missed the opportunity.
We also asked Mr. MacIver about 10 properties that are accessed via Private Paved Roads, and why they didn’t get the 10% adjustment. The properties were:
- 12 Covenant Way
- 13 Colcord Rd
- 16 Birch Ln
- 17 Breezy Way
- 18 Bryson Dr
- 24 Colcord Rd
- 32 Chapman Dr
- 40 Chapman Dr
- 60 Breezy Way
- 99 Mendums Landing Rd
His response to this evidence was a long, dramatic explanation about what the Assessor does, and the appraisal value of the property and he even mentioned the Superior Court, rather than admitting that his claim of a 10% reduction for properties located on Private Roads was incorrect. So we gave him two opportunities to correct the record, and he did not take advantage of either one.
Nearly 52% of all the roads in Barrington, when categorized by name and type, are Private Roads – roads that don’t receive plowing or road maintenance from the Town. Since Private Road Taxpayers represent the majority of taxpayers in Barrington, NH, we believe they should be asking the question of why Class VI Roads get a 10% adjustment for their Road Class, but Private Roads (which they were told get the same adjustment) do not.
For those interested in political action on Private Road Taxation, the New Hampshire Private Road Taxpayers Alliance can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..